BY ROB DAVIS
FOR THE OBSERVER
OPELIKA — Holiday break basketball action brought Trinity and Chambers Academy together Tuesday afternoon for a pair of competitive matchups in the Chambers Academy Holiday Round Robin.
Boys basketball
The Trinity Eagles boys basketball team made the most of their Christmas break from school by notching an impressive 56-38 victory over the Chambers Academy Rebels Tuesday afternoon in the Chambers Academy Holiday Round Robin.
After trailing early in the game, the Eagles got hot from the perimeter and methodically put the game out of reach in the second half. Reid House scored 22 points and Nate Riddle added 18 to lead the way for the Eagles, who improved to 6-4 heading into the second half of the season.
“We’re playing more selflessly than we were in the beginning of the season,” Trinity head coach Noah Gardner said. “We’re making more passes and looking for the best opportunity to score.”
It was the Rebels who had the hot hand early in the game. Leading by as many as eight points, Chambers looked to be in control of the game until House hit four three-pointers for the Eagles to lead a 15-0 run before the end of the first half.
“I would still like to see our guys do a better job of rebounding,” Gardner said. “Chambers has a great defense and we’re not always going to be able to hit the first shot we take, so I try to stress the importance of following your shot and fighting for the rebound.”
Trailing by eight at the half, Chambers came back to tie the score at 31 with 2:10 remaining in the third period. That’s when House and Riddle went on a tear for the Eagles, combining to score the next 16 points during a 16-2 run to put the game on ice for the visitors from Trinity.
“Going forward we need to continue to be selfless and look for the best shots,” Gardner said. “We also need to keep playing our defensive system and focus on rebounding.”
Girls basketball
The Trinity girls basketball team had a tougher outing against Chambers in the holiday round robin, losing 39-19 to the Rebels.
Eagles guard Emma Miller knocked down 15 points as Trinity trailed by only one point at the half. However, the second half was a different story as the Chambers defense created turnovers and controlled the boards. Trenise Tigner led the way for the Rebels with 12 points.
Trinity v. Hooper Academy, Jan. 2
The Trinity Eagles boys basketball team put on a shooting clinic Friday night against the visitors from Hooper Academy and claimed a 57-42 victory to improve to 7-4 on the season.
Eagles guard, Reid House, scored 26 points and Mac Ellis added 14 as Trinity held off a late surge by the Colts and pulled away to seal their third consecutive victory before region play begins this week.
“We try to treat every game the same,” Gardner said. “I tell the guys we want unyielding defense, tenacious rebounding and running your offense with the intent of getting high quality shots.”
It was Hooper Academy with the hot hand early in the contest as the Colts led 14-12 at the end of the first period thanks to the shooting of junior guard Kingston White who led the Colts with 21 points. However, Trinity got hot from the perimeter and turned up the heat on defense, going on a 24-5 run to end the first half with a 36-21 lead.
“I told the guys at the half to keep the intensity up and keep hitting the boards,” Gardner said. “I knew Hooper would give us everything they had in the second half and we couldn’t afford to get complacent.”
The Colts in fact managed to cut the Trinity lead to 10 at the end of the third period, and with just under six minutes remaining in the game they had it down to four points. Following a Trinity timeout, senior Josh Riddle hit back to back buckets followed by three consecutive threes. One by Nate Riddle and two by Reid House. House put the exclamation on the victory with a steal and a slam dunk with 18 seconds remaining in the game.
“I told the guys the same thing at the timeout — defense, rebound, run the offense and look for the good shot,” Gardner said. “I wanted to just calm them down and let them know to relax and play your game and everything will be just fine and that’s what they did and I couldn’t be more proud of the way they finished.”
Trinity began region play at The Oaks School on Jan. 6.
